Forestry

Short-sighted governments have razed Canada’s forests and depleted her fisheries, demonstrating that they cannot be trusted as custodians of precious resources. Environment Probe’s surveys of countries that are protecting their natural resources have found that decentralized holdings — whether community based or privately held — generally serve the environment and the economy well. Environment Probe’s campaigns to decentralize natural resource holdings have garnered praise from diverse interests, from native forestry activists to Australian fishermen.

A year-long study of Ontario’s wilderness areas by Environment probe found that Ontario’s provincial parks are worth at least $6 billion. On a per hectare basis, provincial parks generate eight times more revenue than that of timber harvesting on crown land, yet the government continues to hand over public land to industry for environmentally destructive resource extraction.

An Environment Probe study found that logging in the Carmanah Creek watershed, a unique and beautiful wilderness area on Canada’s west coast, had been planned without any consideration of the economic benefit from logging, which is, in fact, very low. Non-timber benefits are likely to exceed the benefits from logging this pristine area.